An overnight in Blenheim, near the northeast corner of the south island, placed us smack in the middle of the Marlborough wine country [location]. This fertile flat floodplain is home to some of the best wines in New Zealand, and that’s saying something. Read on!
Somehow, 10am seemed too early for wine tasting, so we hit the road and headed south along the coast. The coastal road winds and twists and sometimes seems barely able to cling to the seaside cliffs. It cuts through headlands with narrow tunnels and sometimes crosses one-lane bridges. It’s hard to believe that this road is the main highway in the country (SH1), but it is gorgeous. Below is a photo of the coastline, with some of the local ‘shag’ birds in the foreground.
We stopped at one outlook to check out the resident population of fur seals. I include few photos of the seals and views.
(Update 6/18: on the way back northward, we stopped again in Blenheim and visited several local wineries. Excellent! We bought seven bottles 😉
David Kotz 